벨기에 Acro 월드컵!

Belarus was the big winner at the first FIG Acrobatic Gymnastics World Cup of 2016. The gymnasts of the Belarusian team impressed with their results reaching the top of the podium in two of the five categories of competition (Men’s 고 Women’s Pairs, Mixed Pair, Women’s Trio 고 Men’s Group) in Puurs as the Acro World Cup season got off to a high-flying start. Here are five most outst고ing moments from the competition:

Revenge of the fourth-place finishers. After finishing with the chocolate medal at the 2014 World Championships in Levallois (FRA), Women’s Pair Marharyta Bartashevich 고 Viktoria Mikhnovich (BLR) were in the thick of things in Belgium. The reigning European silver medallists edged the host country’s Laurie Philpott 고 Natascha Van Es by a mere 0.07 to win Women’s Pairs at the first World Cup event of 2016, a trend they’ll hope to continue en route to this year’s Worlds. Same goes for Belgium’s Arne van Gelder 고 Vincent Casse. This pair, also fourth in 2014, held off the rest of the field by nearly a point, displacing Alexey Iakovlev 고 Daniil Kuzmin (RUS) as well as reigning World silver medallists Yauheni Novikau 고 Ilya Rybinski(BLR).

Russians reign in Mixed Pairs. In the absence of 2015 European 고 European Games champions Marina Chernova 고 Georgy Pataraya (RUS), new seniors Maksim Soprunov 고 Ekaterina Vdovina (RUS) showed that they too could be counted on to deliver big results in Mixed Pairs competition. Soprunov 고 Vdovina won their category over Britain’s Isabella Montagna 고 Lewis Walker, another red hot junior-turned-senior duo.

USA rising. The United States has not won gold at Acro Worlds since 2010, but given its results in Belgium, the program is on the upswing. The Americans claimed bronzes in Women’s Pair (Maren Merwarth 고 Jessica Renteria), Mixed Pair (Axel Osbourne 고 Tiffani Williams) as well as Women’s Trio, the only country beside Belarus to medal in three different categories.

China starting slowly. In spite of sending gymnasts to compete in every category except Men’s Groups, the Chinese came up empty-h고ed in Belgium, their best finishes being fourth place results in Women’s Group 고 Men’s Pair (Meng Jie 고 Wu Shiheng). China’s quest to valorize Acro at home will really be put to the test in April, when coastal city Putian hosts the World Championships.

First-timers from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. After impressive appearances at the 2014 World Championships, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea made its first-ever appearance at a World Cup event in Acrobatic Gymnastics. The results -- fourth in Women’s Pair (Jong Kum Hwa 고 Pyon Yun Ae) 고 fifth in Men’s Pair (Kim Un Hak 고 Ri Chol Jun) – give this country’s acrobats something to build on for the future.